


warm coffee, summer blues

by uniqueusernamegenerator



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff, Lumity, uniqueusernamegenerator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25869256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniqueusernamegenerator/pseuds/uniqueusernamegenerator
Summary: Her name is Amity.The girl has green hair and amber eyes. She comes into the shop every morning at 8 AM sharp, orders some disgustingly bitter coffee, and leaves. Sometimes she's on the phone, sometimes she's not, but she always comes back. Always.Rated T for adult language.~In which Luz is a blushing mess and Amity is just a dork.Now translated intoрусскийby the amazing comfy_enough
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne/Camilia Noceda, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 309
Kudos: 2781
Collections: Completed stories I've read, i love coffeeshop aus way too much help





	1. Chapter 1

"Large Americano, please," the girl says. She's on her phone again, fingers _tap tap_ tapping across the screen, looking anywhere but at Luz. And Luz groans internally, because this has been going on for a _month_ and Willow is going to _kill_ her if she doesn't talk to her eventually. 

"I'll get on it," Luz says. It's a miracle her voice doesn't crack. It did the first time. _Badly_. "Name?"

She already knows it, obviously, considering the amount of times the girl's been here, but she doesn't know if that would be seen as creepy. Or was it just rude considering she'd seen her like 50 times this summer?

The girl looks up and sighs, and yeah, maybe Luz should stop asking. "Amity."

When Amity steps out of the line, there's a tall guy in a suit who comes up to take her place. He leans forward, elbow on the counter, smirking at her. Oh, brother.

"Can I help you?" she asks him blankly.

"So, I have a deal," he says. "Give me a discount, and I'll bring you on the best date of your life."

Luz scoffs. "Yeah, and lose my job? Give me a break."

She hears a tiny snort from the back corner. When she looks over, the girl with the green hair is giggling into her palm. Luz feels a smile creeping onto her face before she reins it back.

_Get a handle on yourself, she's probably texting her boyfriend._

The guy doesn't seem too pleased by her attitude, so he pushes himself off the counter and storms out of the coffeeshop. _Gracias a Dios._

She makes Amity's coffee in the lull between customers.

"Americano for Amity." she calls. Amity barely looks at her as she crosses over to the counter, and okay, she's going to do this. She's going to do this or Willow is going to murder her. "So, uh."

"What?" the girl asks, and she catches Luz's eyes with her amber ones. She looks like she's assessing her somehow, testing her, and there's a blush rising onto Luz's face, she just knows it, and fuck, okay, she can't do this.

"Uh. Never mind, sorry." she responds, mentally berating herself for being such an idiot. "Enjoy your coffee."

"You too," Amity replies, too quickly, before her whole face goes red. "I mean, never mind." She grabs her Americano from the counter and speedwalks out of the building without so much as a goodbye.

Luz blinks once. Blinks twice, before breaking out into a full-face grin.

+

"She WHAT?!" Willow squeaks, then winces at the glares aimed her way. "Sorry, she did what?" she whispers.

"I told off a guy in a suit and she _giggled,_ " Luz groans. They're at the library, sitting at one of the center tables with books sprawled out in front of them. It's their tradition, having a Book Club every Friday, and they'll continue to do it until they go to college in 2 months. "And I don't even know if it was because of me. She could have been doing _anything_ on her phone. _Anything,_ Willow. Save me." She buries her face in her arms, trying to hide her embarrassment.

She can almost feel Willow rolling her eyes. "Luz. You need to calm down, okay? Next time."

"What do you mean, next time?! I don't know what I'm doing!" Luz exclaims and shit, people were glaring at them again. Oops.

"Just write your number on the cup," says Willow, shrugging.

"Are you kidding?" Luz asks in disbelief. "That's such a douchey thing to do."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she says, chin in her hands. "Okay. New idea. Wear your bi flag pin."

"I'm not even out to my mom yet, Willow!"

Willow sighs. "We need Gus."

"Gus," Luz agrees, "I'll text him when I get home."

+

_gus!!!! need ur help!!!!!!_

_Wya_

_home but thats not the point please help me_

_Whats wrong?? Did eda set ur mom on fire or something_

_i mean no but it's only a matter of time_

_but, theres a cute girl who keeps coming to the coffeeshop and ive been trying to talk to her literally since june_

_but i can't_

_...Its July_

_I KNOW OKAY_

_shes just so_

_so_

_Oookayy...._

_Why not just do that thing where you write your number on her coffee cup?_

...

_seriously gus_

_Okay okay, new plan_

_Why don't you just ask her out_

_FDSAFHASFHS I CANT DO THAT_

_????_

_Why not_

_I will die_

_Oh come on, now you're just being dramatic_

_no, I will_

_i will literally actually die and it will be all her fault_

_theyll arrest her_

_Okay, now you're being ridiculous_

_It's just a GIRL, luz_

_manslaughter_

+

She wakes up with a runny nose and a pounding head. So much for seeing Amity again.

In fact, it turns out she has some weird type of summer flu, and Eda flat-out refuses to let her work, claiming it would be irresponsible. Luz thinks she just wants an excuse to hang out at their house so she can talk to her mom. In fact, they're talking downstairs right now.

"Yeah, me and King will take great care of her," Eda's voice floats up the stairs, and Luz rolls her eyes. "You can go straight to work. Straight ha ha. Cause I'm not. Get it?"

Camilia laughs, and Luz hears the sound of the door handle turning. "Yes, you're a very funny woman. Thank you so much for this, by the way."

If they keep flirting like this, she's going to throw up.

Luckily, she recovers quick - within a week, she's back at the coffeeshop. And of course, Amity shows up at 8 AM sharp.

"Americano, please," she mutters, staring at her phone.

"Sure," says Luz. "Name?" 

_Luz. YOU KNOW HER NAME._

But Amity blinks and looks up from her phone and catches her eye. "You're back."

"You noticed?" Luz blurts because she is an absolute fool.

Amity slams her hands down on the counter and leans forward.

"You _do_ know me," she exclaims, eyes narrowed. She seems to realize she's, like, one inch from Luz's face and leans back. "I knew it!"

"Whoa, I don't know where you got that from," says Luz, trying to backtrack. "I definitely do not know you. Just uh. Yeah."

She looks unimpressed, arching an eyebrow in an imperious way that somehow still manages to look attractive.

"Okay, I do know your name. It's Amity," sighs Luz, realizing there's no way around this. "I just didn't want to let you know because nobody ever comes back here because our coffee is _awful_ and I've never had a single regular and honestly it is kinda weird that you keep coming back here-"

"First of all," says Amity, cutting her off. "I throw the Americanos in the garbage as soon as I get outside."

Luz raises an eyebrow. "Then-"

"I come for you."

"Like... because you want a discount?" Luz is not sure what is happening here, but she has an inkling of suspicion.

Amity laughs, and Luz will actually die because HOLY FUCK HER LAUGH IS ADORABLE. "Are you serious? No way."

"Uh...elaborate?" she laughs nervously. Help.

"Hm," the girl smiles, tucking strands of aquamarine behind her ear. "Nah."

She slides Luz a slip of paper and leaves.

"Wait, your Americano!" yells Luz, because she is so disoriented that coffee is the only thing she can think of right now.

"Don't want it," says Amity, and then the door closes behind her.

There's 10 digits scrawled on the slip of paper in the prettiest handwriting she's ever seen, and she thinks maybe she should call an ambulance for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this was absolute garbage but fun to write


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you got too many notifications for this work it's because your girl (genius that i am) accidentally deleted this chapter
> 
> i love all your kind words <3 thank you
> 
> will update asap

Willow gets them kicked out of the library when she hears the news.

"Oh well," she shrugs, leaning against the wall. "Boscha can blackmail the librarian into letting us back in."

Luz gapes at her. "Who the hell is Boscha?"

Willow blushes. "Um. It doesn't matter," she says, and takes off speedwalking down the street.

"Oh no, you are _not_ getting away from me," Luz laughs, running after her.

They end up on the huge leather couch at Willow's house, the brightness of the TV screen the only source of light in the room. Willow turns to her. "So, I met her at school a few months ago, and she called me stupid. And then she asked me out."

Luz laughs until she can barely breathe, and Willow lets out a long-suffering sigh. "So are you going to text her?" Willow asks her, probably to change the subject, but Luz forgets all about Boscha when the words register.

"What?" she yelps. 

"She gave you her number, right?" says Willow. "That means she wants you to text her, Luz."

"What if she doesn't, though."

Willow looks at her like she's stupid.

"Ugh, I know," Luz flops forward on the couch, face hidden between the pillows. "But what if it was an accident? Or she didn't actually mean to?" 

She feels a tap on her shoulder, and gets up to see Willow holding her hand out. "Give me your phone."

Luz blinks. "Uh, what?"

Willow makes grabby motions with her hands like she's a crab, and Luz gives her the phone because refusing crab hands should be illegal. She watches her tap something into the screen, and only starts to panic when Willow grins like a maniac. "Looks like she likes you too."

"Give me that," says Luz.

She clicks the phone on and has two new messages. From _Amity,_ and that's when she finds out it's possible to forget to breathe.

_Hi, Amity_

_Hi barista girl!_

_Gonna be honest, I didn't think you would actually text me_

Holy mother of God.

"YOU TEXTED HER WITH MY PHONE?" Luz shrieks, and Willow's eyes widen.

"Shhh, my dads are home!" she hisses before smiling. "Do you guys not have nametags?"

"No, we don't," says Luz. "Why- OH." She types out a quick text, before deleting it, before typing it again, before deleting it, before-

Willow's eyebrows shoot up. "Wow. You have it bad."

" _Ay, Dios Mio_ ," says Luz, and sends the text.

_oh yeah, my name is luz :P its spaisnish for light_

_Spaisnish, huh_

Willow nearly falls off the couch laughing, and Luz groans.

+

They text a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It gets to a point where they always wish each other _Goodmorning_ but never get around to _Goodnight_ because they always fall asleep talking to each other. It's easy, and exhilarating, and _God,_ sometimes all she wants to do is walk to her house and hold her hand. Willow thinks it's adorable. Luz is mostly just trying to survive the days where Amity sends her selfies.

The only downside is that Amity stops coming to the coffee shop. Which, Luz can't really blame her. Their coffee tastes like battery acid. But she misses her face in the mornings, the sound of her voice.

Was that gay? ...shit.

One night, after a rough day at the shop, Luz presses the 'Call' button on an impulse.

"Luz?" Amity's voice is rough with sleep and deeper than usual and _oh no,_ this is very bad because Luz doesn't even know if she's ever heard anything more beautiful.

"Hi! Sorry to bother you, I just had a really bad day and I know we never do this and I don't know if it's because you don't feel comfortable calling me or what but-"

"Are you okay?" she sounds more alert now, almost...worried? "I can come over."

 _I can come over._ Fuck.

Luz is tempted to say _yes,_ _please come over, I want to see you,_ but it's 3 in the morning and there is _no way_ Amity is actually willing to walk all the way to her house in the dead of night. "No, it's fine. Just talk to me? Please?"

"For you? Yeah, anytime." says Amity, and Luz makes a weird noise in the back of her throat. "What was that?"

"Uh, nothing," she responds quickly, heat rising to her cheeks. "My dog."

"You have a dog?"

"Yeah, his name's King. He's adorable."

There's a pause. It gives Luz a second to catch her breath.

"Can I meet him?" she asks, finally.

Luz's heart skips a beat, but she manages to say, "Okay."

+

_when do u wanna meet my dog_

_:)_

There's a jingling sound from the door, but Luz is so distracted with typing out a response that she doesn't even notice.

"Americano, please."

Her head snaps up so fast she almost gets whiplash, and wow, is this what it feels like to have a heart attack?

Because Amity's there, in purple leggings and a loose black T-shirt with her greenish hair and amber eyes with a smirk on her face and just _dammit._

"I'm just kidding. Your coffee is... not the best." she says, hopping up to sit on the counter.

"I don't think you're allowed to sit there," Luz blurts out.

"Okay," says Amity, and swings her legs over to the other side, hopping off of it so that she's on _Luz's_ side of the barrier. Luz thinks that maybe Willow and Gus have a point about her being a disaster, because Amity turns to her and all she can do is stare. "Hey. When does your shift end?"

Luz shrugs. "Whenever Matt decides to show up. He's a jerk, though. I'd avoid him."

Amity raises her eyebrows. "Is his name Mattholomule, by any chance?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"He's a terrible person," says Amity. "He went to my school and tried to take over the LGBT club I was in, but it turned out he was straight and just on a power trip."

Luz chokes on literal air. Between deep, hacking breaths - why does this hurt so much - she's pretty sure Amity is laughing at her. "Sorry," she gasps out.

"You don't... have a problem with that, right?" Amity asks as she straightens up.

"NO," Luz says _very_ loudly. The patrons still in the shop turn to stare at them, and she gives them an awkward smile. "Sorry. No. I'muhbisexual."

"What?"

"I'm bi," she mutters.

Amity gives her an unreadable look. She doesn't know if it's surprise or something else, and it's then that she realizes just how close they're standing, Amity pressed up against the counter, barely a foot away. Her cheeks are flushed with color.

Is Amity _blushing?_

"That's cool," she says. "I'm pretty much just gay."

Matt walks through the door then, probably saving Luz from fainting right there on the coffeeshop floor. He does a double take when he sees Amity.

"Well, well, well," he says. "If it isn't Amity Blight. Hey, loser." He aims the last part at Luz.

Amity's eyes narrow. "Matt," she says, and there's a dangerous edge to her voice that makes the butterflies in Luz's stomach work overtime.

"Get out of here," he says, taking the shop keys from Luz.

"Come on," says Amity. "Let's go see your dog."

"Okay," Luz replies breathlessly.

 _Whipped,_ Matt mouths at her, but honestly, she isn't even sure she cares anymore.

And then.

Amity _grabs_ her hand to pull her out of the shop. Which would've been totally fine if she hadn't also decided to lace their fingers together.

 _PLEASE KISS ME,_ is what Luz wants to say because Amity's hand is soft and warm and makes her heart race like she'd just won a triathlon.

Instead, she just lets Amity guide her out of the cafe. Oh well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why is ao3 so hard
> 
> thank you to Random to letting me know there were issues with this chap

It goes like this:

Amity takes them to the park instead of meeting King because _"dogs hate me"_ , so they get ice cream (mint chocolate chip for Amity, double fudge for Luz) and walk under the shade of the magnolia trees, hands intertwined (Do friends hold hands? She can't remember). Luz points out all the squirrels, and Amity reluctantly tells her about how much she loves Azura the Good Witch.

"It's kinda weird, right?" she says, and she sounds wistful, like she's never gotten to share this before.

"Are you kidding me? I love Azura!" Luz squeals. She probably sounds like a giant nerd, but Amity beams at her and starts going off on a tangent about a fan theory she saw so it's pretty much worth it now.

Turns out, it takes less than five minutes before the conversation turns to shipping.

"Hecazura, all the way."

"Duh!" Luz cheers. "Imagine blushing _that_ much at someone in real life. So gay." Then she realizes what she's said and WOW, LUZ, WAY TO MAKE IT OBVIOUS TO THE GIRL YOU'RE HOLDING HANDS WITH.

Amity stops in her tracks then, eyes widening, and Luz is pretty sure she's figured out what she just said, when Amity grabs her by the front of her hoodie and drags her behind one of the magnolias, taking her shoulders and pushing her so she's flattened against the trunk. And holy shit, how is she supposed to function when Amity literally has her up against a tree?

"Amity, wha-"

"Shush," Amity whispers, looking apologetic but scared, her eyes on something behind Luz.

Luz peers around the tree trunk, and there's a tall, severe-looking couple strolling down the park's walkway. The woman has perfectly styled brown hair and is dressed in what looks like _very_ expensive clothing. Her husband is taller, but has clothing of the same caliber, and the same displeased look on his face.

He reminds her of Amity when she snapped at Luz that day in July, when it all started, and _oh_. Oh.

Amity relaxes as soon as the couple leaves their sight, and lets her hands slip off of Luz's shoulders. It's eighty degrees out, and somehow Luz still feels the lack of warmth around her collar.

But that's not important right now, and Amity looks like she's about to have a panic attack, so Luz does the only thing she can think of and pulls her into a hug.

She feels Amity stiffen like a board, and okay, maybe she didn't think this through. "What are you doing," says Amity. It's not cold, per se, but there's no emotion in her voice.

Luz pulls back.

"I- sorry!" she says. "You just- you looked like you needed it. Sorry."

Amity tilts her head, and Luz is starting to feel like she's definitely made a mistake when suddenly she's wrapped into a tight hug. Everything smells like lemons, rain, magnolia trees under the sun, and there's a blur of aquamarine and probably hair in her mouth but she doesn't even _care_ because what the _fuck._

"Meep," says Luz.

Amity steps away, grinning, and... blushing, for some odd reason. Probably the heat. "What?"

"Uh. Nothing! Nothing at all. You know what? Let's keep walking." Luz rambles, and grabs Amity's hand again because she's a fucking idiot. Luckily, Amity doesn't really seem to mind.

When they get tired, Luz sits on a park bench, patting the empty spot next to her for Amity to sit.

Amity doesn't sit.

Instead, she flops onto the bench so that her head is in Luz's lap, legs hanging off the bench's armrest.

_OKAY. THIS IS FINE._

Luz is going to _die._

"I owe you an explanation," Amity says, eyes turned up towards the summer sky.

"For what?" Luz asks her, brow furrowed. "Oh. Yeah."

"My parents are not... they're not the most progressive. Or the nicest," her voice is nonchalant, but her fists are clenched. "I didn't want them to..."

Luz's heart drops.

"You were embarrassed of me," she says quietly. And she's used to it, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

"What? No!" Amity shakes her head emphatically. "It's just- it's complicated. If they saw me with you, they'd ruin it. Somehow."

"They don't let you have friends?" Luz asks, confused.

Amity glances up at her, before her gaze shifts back to the sky. "Huh? No, they do, just not - you know what, never mind."

"They don't sound like very nice people," says Luz. "And they don't sound anything like you."

"I hope so," and then someone's phone is buzzing. Amity reaches into her pocket and takes it out, squinting her eyes at the screen before sitting up and getting off of Luz. "Ugh, I have to go. Sorry."

"Wait!" Luz calls before she can regret it. "I can walk you home."

"Not today, sorry. But that's really nice of you," says Amity. "Text me, okay?" She smiles at Luz and does a sheepish little wave, and Luz gives her an awkward one in return.

Talking in person is so much better.

+

After that day, Amity comes to the coffee shop almost every morning.

They have a schedule. Luz offers Amity a coffee; Amity says no, and then she climbs over the counter to be on Luz's side. She's there so often that people eventually start asking _Amity_ for their coffees instead of Luz, and to Luz's surprise, Amity just goes with it. 

"You know you don't have to help me, right?" she asks one day, mid-August, after Amity's done taking a girl's order. "I mean, this is kinda my job."

"Blights don't _have_ to do anything," Amity says, not arrogantly, but just like it's a fact. "I want to help you."

And Luz thinks she might be falling in love, just a little bit.

Amity usually leaves with her when Luz's shift ends. Sometimes they go to the park. Or the movies. Or Walmart. Or pretty much anywhere. Luz finds herself spending more time with Amity than not, and honestly, she can't really complain about that because, duh, it's _Amity_. She learns all of Amity's favorite things - summer nights, leaves under her boots, rugby, and really bitter coffee (that one's not a surprise).

Sometimes Amity's busy, and they don't see each other. They're always texting throughout the day, though - Luz makes a habit of going places with her phone in her pocket, just for Amity, and you know what, maybe Matt was right about her being whipped.

"I'm pretty sure it's gonna be canon," she's explaining to Gus one day. They're at Willow's house again, lazing around in her bedroom.

"Hecazura? Nah." Gus shakes his head. "Azura belongs with Malingale and that's a fact."

Luz is about to slap a bitch, but she takes a deep breath and checks her phone instead.

Amity happens to be typing, and when the message finally comes in, Luz literally falls over, dropping her phone.

_Amity: pretty sure i love you_

Ignoring how Willow and Gus glance at each other, and how her heart thumps in her chest, she picks it back up to respond.

_Amity: I DIDNT MEAN TO PRESS THE SEND BUTTON_

_I mean not that i was typing it to u_

_Lol_

_Meant to send to_

_Mom_

_Haha._

_oh ok haha i thought it was for idk ur gf or something if u have one idk LOL how have we never talked about this_

_don't mind me tho im just saying random things haha u know me_

_just so RANDOM_

_Nah_

_I'm single_

_me too_

_Really?_

_Someone like you, I thought the boys and girls would be flocking to you lol_

_Gtg <3 Cya barista girl_

And- just- what? How can Amity just _drop_ things like that? 

It's been almost two months since they met, and Luz doesn't think this crush is going away.

In fact, she's pretty sure it's getting worse.

_dont call me barista girl u have been coming to the shop for WEEKS_

_use my name coward!_

_:)_

"Luz?" Willow asks gently. "Are you okay?"

"YUP," Luz yells. "FINE. TOTALLY FINE."

+

After a month of coffee shop meetups, walks through the park, and movie nights, Luz eventually convinces Amity to come to her house and meet her dog.

They let go of each other's hands just before they walk through the door, but Eda shoots her an exaggerated wink anyway. Luz blushes and hustles Amity up to her room before she can be embarrassed any more. And Amity was totally lying about not being a dog person, because the moment she sits down, King climbs up onto her lap and falls asleep.

They talk and put on Netflix and eventually Amity falls asleep too and Luz is _fucked_ because how is she supposed to wake her up when she looks like that.

Spoiler alert: she doesn't wake her up.

Instead, she presses play on another movie and leans back against the pillows, making sure to keep a careful distance from Amity just in case she wakes up and freaks out.

She must have drifted off, because when she wakes up, there's sunlight pouring through the windows and a warm weight on her shoulder.

When she turns her head, Amity's hugging her arm like a teddy bear, her head resting on Luz's shoulder. Netflix is stuck on the 'Are you still watching?' screen.

"Luz?" she hears a voice call from downstairs, and yelps. Luckily, nobody noticed. Except Amity, who's blinking slowly now, waking up.

Then she sees Luz, and her eyes go wide.

Amity's gaze darts to her hands, tucked around Luz's upper arm, and she pushes herself away. Her face is tomato-red.

"Shhh," Luz whispers. "I'm really sorry. My mom's going to... assume things. Can you leave through the window?" She's never been so glad her room is on the first floor.

"Luz, what happened?" Amity hisses.

"You fell asleep," she shrugs in response. "What did you think happened?"

The girl stares at her with that inscrutable expression, hair messy and disheveled. "I thought we k- never mind," she says, and then she opens the window and climbs out of Luz's room.

Her phone buzzes.

_Gus: u busy?_

Luz takes a deep breath.

_library?_

+

"There is no way she doesn't like you back," says Gus. They're in the library, sans Willow because she's at her botany internship. And also because Boscha got her banned from the library (long story). "You guys were holding hands for what? An hour?"

"I mean, yeah," Luz takes another book off the shelf. _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._ Huh. "But-"

"Luz, she literally fell asleep hugging you."

"You could do that with _anyone!_ "

"Look," Gus says, leaning against a bookshelf. "There's an easy way to find out."

"What is it?"

Someone crashes into her from behind before Gus can respond, and then she's sprawled out on the ground, book flying from her fingers.

"Who stands in the middle of the-" says an angry voice, and then it cuts off mid-sentence. Luz picks herself up, groaning, and looks up to see-

Black nail polish. Amber eyes. Aquamarine hair.

"Luz." says Amity.

"Amity!" Luz exclaims, doing finger guns with her unoccupied hand, and she's pretty sure Gus facepalms.

"Can we talk?"

"For you? Anytime." says Luz, unwittingly parroting what Amity said to her when they talked on the phone in July. Amity's eyes widen. "I mean, yeah, let's just. Go. Haha."

Amity takes her hand and pulls her into a nearby alcove, and Luz is so used to this by now that she doesn't even blush. Neither of them let go.

"So-"

"I'm-"

"You go first!" Luz says quickly.

"Okay, um," Amity starts, but seems to get distracted, looking down at their joined hands.

"Oh, sorry," she pulls her hand away, but Amity just takes it again.

"No, keep it."

_WHAT._

"So what I wanted to say was, I'm sorry." Amity continues.

" _You're_ sorry? I'm the one who made you sneak out the window like a criminal!"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. Because I - I don't know. I fell asleep on your shoulder like we're-"

Luz blinks, and her mind goes blank. "Like we're what?"

Amity shakes her head and lets go of Luz's hand, turns to walk away. "Nothing. See you later, Luz."

And then it hits her. _Like we're dating. Girlfriends. Anything but just friends._ Now Amity's leaving, because-

Because what? Because she's not comfortable with the idea of Luz? Because she thinks it's weird that they've been holding hands and going on little adventures for a month? Because Luz goes on walks with her under the magnolia trees at the park and texts her until 2 in the morning? Because Luz, maybe, possibly, _likes_ her?

Her mind is a whirl of doubt, and she says, "Amity, wait."

She turns around.

"You can leave, but I just wanna know. Why did you come to the cafe every day if you weren't gonna drink the coffee?"

Amity frowns at her. "You really don't know?"

"Nope."

There's that look again, Amity analyzing her, eyes darting over her face like she's searching for something. Then she shakes her head. "You don't get it, Luz."

"Amity, come on, that doesn't help with anything-"

Amity takes a step closer, puts her hands on her shoulders, and Luz stops talking.

"What are you doing?" she asks, and Amity smiles at her, one of those rare _Amity_ smiles that makes her feel like she just finished a triathlon.

"Honestly? I have no idea," says Amity.

"I've, uh, I have to go," Luz stammers, because her brain is stuck in panic mode. "To the store. To work. Yeah."

"This might be a terrible mistake," Amity says, and then she pulls Luz in and kisses her.

Their noses bump together. Luz has no idea what she's doing. Amity lets out what sounds like a tiny squeal. But she tastes like lemons, raindrops, afternoon walks in the park. She tastes like coffee. She tastes like _Amity Blight_ , Americanos and summer, and are you supposed to cry during a kiss? Because Luz is about to cry.

When they pull away, Amity is staring at her, deer-in-the-headlights - that's _definitely_ a blush on her face - and Luz's knees feel like jelly. 

"I can't believe I just did that," says Amity. That's pretty much the moment when Luz's brain catches up to her mouth.

"YOU LIKE ME?!" Luz yelps, vaguely aware that the librarian's glaring at them, and that Gus is definitely going to say something annoying like _I told you so_ when he finds out.

But Amity looks nervous now, already stepping away from Luz like she's done something wrong. "Sorry about that," she mutters. "I just thought-"

"Do it again," blurts Luz.

"What?" Amity asks, raising an eyebrow, although the effect is kind of ruined by her blush.

"Do it again." Luz spreads her arms out like she's T-posing or bracing for a hug or something.

She doesn't expect much. She definitely doesn't expect Amity to literally knock her flat on her back.

"I'm so sorry!" Amity squeaks, kneeling down to help her off the floor.

"Eh. All good in my book," says Luz, and drags her down to press her lips to hers.

On the downside, they get kicked out of the library. On the bright side, she's pretty sure they're dating now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> might do an epilogue!
> 
> this was super fun to write. thank you all so much for the kudos and comments! comments especially make my day


	4. Epilogue

Dating is the most underrated thing ever, Luz thinks.

Because yeah, being friends was amazing. But now? She gets to hold Amity's hand with their fingers interlaced. She gets to fall asleep on her shoulder. She gets to kiss her behind the magnolia trees at the park. Every morning when she wakes up she gets to have the realization again that, _holy crap_ , Amity Blight _likes_ _me_.

The only problem is that neither of them has told anyone yet. Gus apparently didn't even notice that they got kicked out of the library, because he found a really good book to get lost in. And when he asked later, Luz just told him that she'd accidentally been really loud. Which was true, technically. 

But it's a half-truth, and these are her friends, so Luz brings it up when they're lounging on the couch together, her and Willow and Gus.

"So," she says. "I was thinking... maybe we could hang out with Amity sometime?"

Willow's eyes widen. "Wait."

"Yeah, sure," Gus shrugs, not looking away from Mario Kart.

But Willow is staring at Luz with eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Luz shrugs, trying to act nonchalant because she'd really rather not reveal it without Amity there. "She wants to meet my friends."

"She wants to meet your friends?" Willow repeats suspiciously.

"Yep!"

"And... nothing happened?"

Luz shakes her head vigorously, but now Gus is looking at her too. "Wait... you guys didn't, like..."

"NOPE," she says.

"Okay, jeez, I was just asking," says Gus, turning back to the Xbox.

"It's really sad that you didn't get to ask her out," Willow says. "I mean, we're going to college in two weeks."

"Don't remind me," Luz groans, and at least that's genuine.

+

"There is no way you're not cheating," Gus says. "You can't win Monopoly six times in a row!"

"Nope," says Amity, a smug smile on her face as he finally goes bankrupt. "This is what we call skill. Maybe get some before you start talking smack."

"Luz literally traded you all of her properties for 1 dollar," Willow retorts, unimpressed. "That should count as cheating."

"Yup, I did do that!" Luz smiles proudly. "And I have no regrets." Then she kisses Amity on the cheek.

Amity blushes and it's _so_ cute, but then Luz realizes they have an audience. Fuck.

"Wait," says Gus, looking back and forth between the two of them. "When did this happen?"

"I KNEW IT!" Willow squeals, and Amity rolls her eyes.

"Knew what?" says a voice from behind them.

The four of them turn to see Camilia and Eda coming down the stairs, hand in hand. Luz waves, and Amity awkwardly smiles, which would have been fine if Eda had just kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, hi Luz's girlfriend," says Eda, and Amity goes bright red.

Camilia laughs. "Corazon, they aren't _dating_. Amity is Luz's best friend!"

"Um," says Luz because this is so awkward.

"Why does she look like a tomato, then?" Eda continues, gesturing to Amity, who looks like she wants to crawl under the floorboards and die.

Camilia rolls her eyes. "Obviously because you keep hounding her about it!"

Amity looks over at her like _help_ , and Luz raises her eyebrows in a silent question. Amity nods, once, and Luz takes that as a sign. This is her shot. This is her moment to tell her mom about their entire relationship. And she isn't gonna mess it up.

"Someandamityarekindadatingnow," Luz says, cutting Eda's reply off.

"Was that Spanish?" Eda asks. "Because I didn't get any of that."

"No," says Camilia. "And I'm disappointed that you asked. What did you say, _cariño?_ "

Willow giggles. Luz groans internally and tries to start again, but she's interrupted by the voice of her girlfriend.

"What she meant is," says Amity, voice quiet and tentative. "Luz and I are dating now."

Luz is so proud of her.

Pin drop silence. Camilia looks back and forth between Luz and Amity, looking for all intents and purposes like she's still trying to comprehend this situation.

"See? I told you. Who wants cookies?" Eda says, finally, and the tension in the room drains.

But Amity still looks like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop, like she expects them to yell at her or chastise her or something, and Luz is seriously considering giving her a hug when her mom beats her to it.

"Oh, sweetie," says Camilia, and after a few quick strides, she puts her arms around Amity. Amity goes very still for a moment, but soon relaxes into the hug. "You're family now, okay?"

"I'm gonna cry," Luz whispers.

"Please don't," says Amity, but her voice is suspiciously shaky.

+

Amity won't come out to her parents. Nope. Not happening yet under any circumstances, and Luz is fine with that. Her parents _suck_.

But one day, on her shift at the coffeeshop, a pair of green-haired twins come in. There's a boy and a girl, tall and collegiate, and both of them come forward and lean on the counter. Luz has never seen two people that are so in sync, and it's only her sense of professionalism that ultimately forces her to say, "Hi, what can I get you guys?"

"I'm Emira. This is Edric," says the girl, Emira, gesturing to her and her brother in turn.

"We heard you're with Mittens now," Edric smirks.

"Mittens?" Luz echoes. "Wait, are you even here to order coffee?"

"Nah, that's Mittens' job," Emira laughs, and that's when it clicks.

"Oh my gosh, wait," she takes a step back, excited all of a sudden. "You're her siblings! She came out to you?"

"More like we found her diary," the boy divulges, looking a little sheepish about it. "Totally by accident, actually. And man, she was mad. But we're not like mom."

"Yeah, we're cool about that stuff. We just wanna know what Mittens sees in you," Emira says.

"You call her Mittens? Oh my gosh that is so cute!" Luz squeals. The twins look surprised and - dare she say it - grudgingly impressed.

And that's when Amity walks in. All three of them turn to look at her, the twins still leaning on the counter, and she sighs in apparent exasperation.

"Hey Amity, your siblings came to say hi!" Luz cheers.

"Hey, Mittens," says Edric with a little wave.

"Ugh, get out of here," Amity mutters to them, joining Luz behind the counter like she usually does.

"Can I call you Mittens?" Luz asks her, taking her hand. It's pretty much a given that Amity will say no, based on how much she seems to hate it. That's probably a good thing, though. Luz doesn't think she'd be able to handle it if she were actually allowed to do that.

But Amity blushes and stammers and then says, "Sure" in the quietest tone she's ever heard her speak in, and Emira looks at Edric and smirks.

And Luz feels like she's on fire, but maybe she's okay with that.

+

"I can't believe Amity's going to _Harvard,_ " Luz says, flipping through a brochure. They - her and Amity - are leaving for Massachusetts in less than two hours, and she's _excited._ Mostly because their music tastes clash so hard and so the road trip is bound to be a wild ride from start to finish. "Isn't that crazy?"

Willow glances at her from the dining table. "Yeah. You've mentioned this five times in the past hour."

"She's just so smart! She's like Azura from Book 5 when she defeats the raging raptor with Hecate," she sighs, falling back onto Willow's couch. "And I know I'm gonna be like half an hour away, but it's gonna suck being so busy all the time. With coursework and... stuff. You know."

A stuffed animal bonks her in the head then. It falls into her hands, and Luz sees that it's a tiny blue elephant.

"Aw, cute," Luz sits up and hugs it to her chest.

"No stressing," says Willow. "Or I'll throw another one."

Amity walks in just then. "You ready?" she says, and Luz kind of forgets to breathe for a second because

1\. She's wearing her varsity jacket

2\. Her hair is down

3\. She's Amity Blight 

"You're my favorite person," she blurts.

"No, you're my favorite person," Amity says, then blushes beet red. "Did... that make sense?"

"No," Willow says.

"YES," says Luz, and hops off the couch to kiss her.

+

It's only when they're in the car, alone, sunlight filtering through the tinted windows, well on their way out of state, that Amity seems to relax completely. Luz is driving, obviously. She'd drive Amity anywhere if she asked.

"It's weird," says Amity a few miles out. "I never thought I would miss this place."

"Really?" Luz asks, surprised. Amity's always been so comfortable here; just like she was a part of it. Like it was home.

"Yeah," she admits. "When I was a kid, all I ever thought about was getting out of here. I hated the park. I hated the movie theater. I hated school. The stupid coffee shop you work at."

Luz has to physically force herself to not talk, because Amity still looks like there's something on her mind.

"I'd gotten into a fight with my parents and... I don't know. I just needed a pick me up. So I just went into the city and got kinda lost and then I walked in and you were there, and I was like _wow_ and I've been talking for too long haven't I."

"I like your voice," says Luz. "Keep talking, please."

"Oh- um, thanks," Amity blushes. "Well, I tried to talk to you but you were ... busy. And I didn't want to bother you. So I was like, okay, I'll do it next time. But you were too pretty and I panicked so I always just ordered something and left."

And now _she's_ blushing. Damnit.

"But I never thought that it would come to anything," and she's looking at Luz now, a soft smile on her face that makes her brain go into overdrive. "And I guess now I can't imagine leaving this place. It's weird how quickly things can change."

Amity _has_ to stop saying things like this or Luz is going to crash the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her turning back to stare at the skyline. The sun is dipping lower in the sky now, late evening blooming into early night. There's something beautiful about Amity's face in the summer light, hair tousling in the breeze coming through the open window. It makes Luz feel some way, and she's not sure what it is, but it's _there_ , warm and soft.

"I... meant it, you know," Amity says.

Luz's heart skips a beat, _okay, eyes on the road, breathe._ "When what?"

She can't help but be aware of the contrast between _crush_ and _girlfriend_ and now _this,_ because there's no adrenaline pounding in her chest, no blood rushing between her ears, none of the telltale signs of a crush, only a slow warmth blossoming in her chest.

"When I said I loved you."

She can't help it. Her head snaps over to look at Amity, and then she's yanking _hard_ on the steering wheel, and the car goes spinning off of the road and into open fields. The wheels screech, throwing clouds of dust up in the air. Amity lets out a squeak. 

Luz just sits there, her car in the midst of tall grasses, hands wrapped tight around the wheel, as the car swerves to a halt.

"A-are you okay?" Amity asks her, and her brow's furrowed in concern. "I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable, I just-"

She doesn't know what to do.

That's not important right then, though, because Amity's clutching the door handle with one hand like Luz is going to kick her out of the car, and all Luz can ask herself is how did this happen? It was a crush. A _crush_. And now they're in her car and she's looking at her, amber-eyed, with that inscrutable expression-

She always says that Amity Blight is going to be the death of her, but she feels as alive as she'll ever be. 

"I love you too," she says.

Amity's face is flushed bright red, and she's pretty sure she looks dopey as hell smiling back, but honestly, she couldn't care less because Amity's surging forward and kissing her as much as the seatbelt on the car will let her.

When they get back onto the road, there's concrete ribboning out in front of them as the sky finally breaks into dusk.

She can't be sure of the future. She knows it won't all be like this summer, midday walks and morning meet-cutes and falling asleep on each other's shoulders.

But there's a girl next to her; a girl who likes bitter coffee, summer walks, sleepy evenings watching Netflix. She likes hugs. She likes _Luz._ Her hair's down and she's wearing her rugby jacket and if Luz were asked to say something coherent right now she probably couldn't, and she's completely, 100% fine with that.

She doesn't know what's going to happen to them.

All she knows that whatever the future holds for her, Amity will be in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD THERE IS FANART??? AND IT IS AMAZING??? PLEASE CHECK IT OUT AND SHOW THE ARTIST SOME LOVE: https://twitter.com/gayglimmer/status/1299869203097419776


End file.
